China will not set limits on Malaysian palm oil imports

China will be importing more Malaysian palm oil and palm-based products and there will be no limits set on its imports, says Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian.

“We will not set any limit. There will be no ‘glass ceiling’ for the import of Malaysian palm oil and related products,” he told reporters after paying a courtesy call to Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.

Bai said China is encouraging more of its corporations to invest in the primary products industry in Malaysia, especially the biomass industry.

Mah said he expected China to be Malaysia’s largest primary products importer in two years’ time.

“China has overtaken India to become the number two export destination for Malaysian palm oil and palm-based products,” he said, based on the export trends.

In the first 11 months of 2017, the total export of palm oil and palm-based products to China grew 9.8% to RM8.52bil, up from RM7.76bil a year ago.

As for the export of rubber and rubber products to China, Mah said China had also overtaken the United States and the European Union to become the top export destination for Malaysia.

The total export of rubber and rubber products to China in the first 11 months last year jumped 76% year-on-year to RM7.45bil, compared to RM4.23bil in the same period in 2016.